The UNSW medicine interview: panel format and 2027 entry

UNSW does not run a Multiple Mini Interview. The words "MMI" and "multiple mini interview" do not appear anywhere on its 2027-cycle medicine admissions pages. What UNSW publishes is this: "Interviews are structured and cover a wide range of relevant topics. There will be two interviewers who are either academic staff, medical practitioners or community representatives."

That sentence appears four times on the domestic page, once under each of General entry, the Rural Entry Admission Pathway, the Gateway Entry Scheme and the Lateral Entry Scheme. UNSW itself uses the word "panel" only on its international page, where it says "The interview panel will exist of two interviewers and will take place via Zoom."

In person or online depends on your citizenship, not your round

This is the detail most often got wrong. For domestic applicants the interview is in person, full stop. UNSW's FAQ answers the question directly: "All interviews for domestic applicants are held in person. There is no online option." That applies even if you live interstate, in New Zealand or overseas.

The four domestic rounds for 2027 entry

Which round you sit is decided by when your results are finalised, not by where you live. UNSW states that all domestic applicants whose results are finalised before the December ranking cut-off will be considered, and that it does not matter whether you live in NSW or elsewhere.

How you get an interview, and what the interview then counts for

Reaching the interview and winning a place are two different calculations, and UNSW is unusually clear about the first one. For General entry, Gateway and Lateral Entry: "Interviews are offered based on your selection rank and UCAT ANZ overall score only." UNSW adds that these are not averaged, and that you must reach a sufficiently high mark on both.

International interviews are not run as named rounds. UNSW publishes a rolling schedule instead: "There are approximately 300 interview places for international applicants each year. Interviews take place monthly from June to January each year." For 2027 entry that window opens in June 2026. No specific international dates are published.

What UNSW says about coaching

UNSW publishes a direct statement on this, and it deserves to be read in full rather than paraphrased by anyone selling preparation, including us.

Worth being precise about what UNSW does and does not say here. It reports interviewer feedback that visibly coached applicants tended to be disadvantaged. It does not publish a rule against preparing, and despite what many applicants assume, there is no UNSW statement anywhere on these pages telling you to be authentic, to be yourself or not to rehearse. We looked for one specifically and it is not there.

The reasonable reading is that answers which sound delivered rather than thought about read badly to two experienced people sitting across from you for a sustained conversation. That is a warning about rehearsed scripts, not about being prepared.

Rules that end applications

• If you are shortlisted you must be available during the interview period. UNSW states that if you cannot attend, your application will not progress further.
• Once an interview is scheduled, rescheduling is not permitted, and UNSW states that once you enter the interview room you are deemed fit to be interviewed. For international applicants the same rule applies once you enter the Zoom interview.
• Not attending means you are no longer considered for a place.
• Bring photo identification such as a passport or licence. UNSW states it is not necessary to bring certificates, awards or any other documents.
• If you believe something went wrong in the interview process, UNSW requires you to email its admissions team within 24 hours of the event.
• UNSW does not release the outcome of, or give feedback on, the interview component.

Preparing for this specific format

Everything above is UNSW's published information. What follows is MedCoach's preparation advice, and we have tried to make it consistent with what UNSW actually says rather than with what would sell more practice.

Prepare material, not scripts

A structured interview with two interviewers who have read your application will follow up on your answers. Memorised paragraphs collapse the moment someone asks why, and that is exactly the pattern UNSW describes as a disadvantage. What survives is having thought properly about your own experiences: what happened, what you actually did, what you would do differently.

Practise being interrupted and asked to go deeper

An MMI station rewards a clean self-contained answer. A structured conversation rewards being able to develop a point, concede a fair objection and keep your reasoning visible. Practise the second thing, because that is what UNSW runs.

Rehearse the room you will actually be in

Domestic applicants sit this in person, at Kensington or at a rural clinical campus, in December or January. That means travel, an unfamiliar room, and sitting across a table from two people rather than looking at a screen. International applicants sit it on Zoom, so the camera, lighting and connection are part of the performance. Practise in the format you will face.

For the wider picture, the interview offer and date guide sets out the 2027-entry timeline across Australian medical schools, and the Monash MMI guide covers a very different format if you are applying to both.